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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26830708">rhapsody in green.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/teethrotter/pseuds/teethrotter'>teethrotter</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Death Note (Anime &amp; Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gardens &amp; Gardening, M/M, Plants, it feels so strange, this is my first foray into something soft without any real angst</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 00:22:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,833</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26830708</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/teethrotter/pseuds/teethrotter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>An impulsive Sunday excursion gives rise to a garden and germinates seeds of loving domesticity.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hatori Arayoshi/Shimura Suguru</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>rhapsody in green.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this takes place in one of my most loved but underutilized alternate universes - one where hatori and shimura both survive past canon and end up living happily together, basically. my birthday is tomorrow and i am still emerging from an incredibly damaging mental health crisis so it only felt appropriate to kick off with my first soft work absent of any real angst. happy birthday to me</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Are totally sure you can carry that by yourself? Seriously, I can help if you need me to. It’s not a big deal.”</p><p>Hatori flocked preemptively to Shimura’s hip, quickly taking up one of his typical hovering positions there. His left arm reflexively snaked out to his lateral side, the tips of his fingers snaring in the taller man’s belt loops so as to securely encircle the small of his back; were he to stumble backwards, Hatori’s weight would stabilize him. Shimura started at the contact, his features swiftly flushing with giddy embarrassment.</p><p>“N-No, it’s alright. I’ve been able to carry much heavier things than this before. Without any help.”</p><p>Seemingly to articulate his point, Shimura reached into the interior of their shared car, beginning the tedious process of withdrawing the plants from within it. Among them was a robust, hardy hibiscus tree, a much more delicate Yoshino cherry sapling, numerous varieties of coleus seedlings, sprigs of rhododendron, hare’s foot ferns, and seed packets for innumerable flowers and vegetables. The latter of the parcels was well-hidden from Hatori’s view, tucked firmly into Shimura’s pants pocket.</p><p>He could sense rather than see Hatori’s face pinch and scrunch in a concerned pout, the bow of his lips indubitably pressing forward as it always did when he was discontented.</p><p>“You’re just saying that to get me to back off, right?”</p><p>Shimura turned to face the shorter man, incredulousness plastered across his features. Hatori dismissively waved his free hand, his expression rapidly acquiring a sheepish tinge as the fingers of his left hand reassuringly stroked the crest of Shimura’s hip.</p><p>“No, no, it’s okay! Sorry, that came off super abrasive, huh? I didn’t mean it that way. I just want to make sure you don’t accidentally hurt yourself, especially if I could have done something to help.”</p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>Shimura’s tense muscles effectively liquified, his lips stretching to flash Hatori a meager grin. He returned to his previous task, cautiously bending the creeping branches of the hibiscus tree to free it from the back seat unscathed. He deposited its pot onto the ground, taking a moment to ensure that the blooms had not been crushed or otherwise harmed before shifting his attention to the Yoshino cherry sapling.</p><p>They had been debating the implementation of a garden in their yard for some time now, finally setting out to adopt the desired specimens in a spontaneous Sunday excursion. These were not typical impulsivities for either of them, neither in the past nor the present, but such events had been wholly unheard of prior to them moving into a new house together. Shimura, in particular, was unaccustomed to any sort of deviation from routine, but nonetheless found himself appreciating the safety and frivolousness that these adventures entailed. He simply enjoyed spending leisurely time with Hatori, no matter the purpose of their outings.</p><p>Having become slightly entrenched in his thoughts, Shimura returned to himself as he was manually extracting the last of the coleus sprouts from the interior of their car. The potted greenery now lined its side.</p><p>“I think that’s everything. It’s all going to be planted in the back yard, isn’t it?”</p><p>Hatori removed himself from the other man’s side, bending down to grab hold of the more miniscule plants.</p><p>“Yes. I think the front yard is already pretty well stocked.”</p><p>Accentuating his words, he spared an affectionate glance to the differing collections of flora decorating the anterior of their house. Hardy kiwi vines climbed the railing of the porch, shrubs of tall rosemary, caryopteris, abelia, ninebark, and red flowering quince serving to offset their abundance and provide a closely coordinated congregation of color. Lovingly planted euphorbia and geranium stood in containers on either side of the porch, hanging calibrachoa hooked into the upper ceiling. Perhaps most noticeable was the large golden full moon maple closer to the street, having been complimentary with the house and consequently well-nourished. Both men took a great deal of pride in maintaining their amassed foliage, and so liked to believe that it showed.</p><p>They gradually hefted each new plant into the back yard, Hatori momentarily pausing to fuss over Shimura’s weight capacity multiple times. Once there, locations were mapped for all of them, the two treelings taking up the yard’s opposite posterior corners. The various more miniscule sprouts were distributed strategically to encompass both the yard’s perimeter and its midsection, Hatori executing the job of ensuring that none of the colors clashed or otherwise appeared out of place among their surroundings; he was far more artistically inclined than his partner.</p><p>Were either of Hatori’s children present, they would have been asked their opinion as to the placement of the novel additions, but they had been sent away to their mother’s home to spend the weekend. So, the task fell upon Hatori instead.</p><p>“There. Let’s not worry about planting them all just now. We can always come back out later or wait until the kids get home. What do you think?” he inquired, lolling his head back to rest lightly on Shimura’s clavicle.</p><p>The older man flushed involuntarily at the contact, grateful that Hatori was unable to properly glimpse his face from his current position.</p><p>“That sounds fine to me. Waiting until the kids get home. I wouldn’t want to plant something just to have them come back and say that they would have wanted it somewhere else. Knowing them, they might even suggest places we never thought about.”</p><p>Despite their young age, with Hatori’s oldest just approaching eleven, both took delightfully after their father in terms of talent. His son greatly enjoyed drawing, his daughter crafting. Perhaps it was an inevitable outcome, given that their father was an avid hobby ceramicist with innumerable handmade pieces scattered throughout his living space for as long as either of them could remember, but the fact still brought joy to Hatori in particular. His ex-wife had never harbored even a shred of intrigue toward the creative arts, so he had worried that the same would end up holding true for at least one of his children. Thankfully, this had not ended up being the case – far from it.</p><p>“Yeah, probably. Do you want to plant some of those seeds now? We still have a while before the first frost.”</p><p>A wide rectangular plot had been cleared away in the center of their back yard, rimmed with wood and filled with soil. It was to serve as a garden containing a combination of flowers. Unbeknownst to Hatori, it would second as a vegetable crop, but for the time being, what he didn’t know would not hurt him.</p><p>“Oh. Yes. Let’s do them all while we’re already at it. Here,” Shimura murmured, taking a moment to surreptitiously separate the vegetable seeds from the flower seeds held within his pants pocket.</p><p>He handed the entirety of the flower array packets to Hatori, keeping the vegetables for himself. They swiftly set to work burying them, Hatori none the wiser to the encroachment of legumes in his flower beds. The plot was watered and fixed with fertilizer, Shimura covertly sighing in relief as Hatori hummed idly to himself, moving once again to the other man’s side upon the objective’s completion.</p><p>“I think that’s more than enough for today. It’s a bit warm out here. Let’s go inside.”</p><p>Shimura merely nodded, rendered speechless as Hatori unthinkingly gripped his hand. He was guided into the house through their deck’s door, blushing up to his ears in the pellucid sunlight.</p><p>They entered the kitchen, Hatori coaxing Shimura to seat himself in one of the meiduo table’s chairs. He nonverbally protested when Hatori did not sit down but instead set toward the syphon coffeemaker, knowing that he was the only one of the pair who regularly partook in the beverage. In response, Hatori simply smiled, setting Shimura’s nerves aflame in the process.</p><p>“You’ve been working really hard today. Just sit and relax for a bit, okay? Coffee should be done soon.”</p><p>Shimura begrudgingly complied, observing his partner flit about the kitchen in preparation. He pulled a portion of their leftover ginger pork from the fridge, inserting it into the microwave and dutifully dumping the contents of the coffeemaker into one of Shimura’s mugs. As the ginger pork finished reheating, he slopped the dish into a bowl, producing chopsticks for the utilization of them both.</p><p>“Here’s to us for slaving away all day, huh? It feels good just to sit down.”</p><p>Hatori grinned easily, reducing Shimura to silent nods and gestures. They had lived together for years now, but the full brunt of Hatori’s affection toward him had never dulled its powerful edge. He continued to find himself blushing and stammering along to the other man’s words like some lovesick schoolboy, intermittently sipping his coffee and plucking up sections of ginger pork from the shared bowl.</p><p>Upon the conclusion of their meal, Hatori emptied the used dishes into the sink, reseating himself at the table soon afterwards. He took one of Shimura’s larger hands into both of his own, gently caressing over his knuckles with his thumb.</p><p>“I think we did really good today. Tomorrow, when the kids come home, they can suggest any changes they want and we can plant everything. I’m excited to have some new ones around. Our back yard was looking a bit lonely without much of anything there.”</p><p>Shimura idly ran his fingertips along the creases of one of Hatori’s palms, nodding along to his statements.</p><p>“I think so, too. At least we have everything now.”</p><p>Hatori’s grin widened, the man leaning forward to place a chaste kiss first to Shimura’s dorsal hand and then to his lips.</p><p>As he withdrew, Shimura began to reflect, not for the first time, on just how content and satisfied he was as of late. Certainly, Hatori’s presence had not served to wholly erase his internal struggles, just as his presence had not done so for his partner. However, breathing seemed to come much easier now, leaving him willingly pliant to each day’s happenings, good or bad. It was a marked improvement from where he had been before, and Hatori was apt to agree.</p><p>For Shimura’s merit, he had watched as his partner began to invest more and more of his personal time into his hobbies, producing a dazzling array of poems, short stories, ceramic pieces, and the like. He had watched as Hatori slowly fell away from his sparse periods of moodiness and silence, both of them able to seek comfort in the other’s presence as the world became too much to healthily endure. The changes were numerous, the great majority of them being beneficial, and they were grateful for many more happenings these days.</p><p>The implementation of a garden, one that they had created, was just the newest asset in their shared quest toward the enigma of happiness. One that they may never truly come to grasp, but one that they were convinced to pursue for the remainder of their lives, together rather than apart.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank you for reading this horribly self-indulgent little thing. i currently work in a greenhouse so apologies for any gratuitous description of plants :)</p><p>https://teethrotter.tumblr.com/</p></blockquote></div></div>
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